The Political Economy of African Famine

Abstract

This volume explores the combination of political and economic forces that influence the various levels of food supply. The book begins with a discussion of the various theories of famine, ranging from cultural ecology to neo-Marxism and in reviewing Sen's entitlement theory, calls for a more 'sources of social power' variant of such an approach. Following this survey, the book presents a number of essays reviewing the negative and positive impacts of different development activities on hunger, emphasizing programmes that were supposed to enhance the production of livestock and grain respectively. The book then moves on to review instances of famine and hunger in Niger, Ethiopia, the Sudan, Guinea-Bissau, Tanzania, Ghana, Cameroon and Chad, from both an African and Western perspective. A sub-section pays specific attention to the role of gender in questions of food security. Lastly, the book considers the prospects for a 'Green Revolution' in Africa and proposes a theory that combines elements of world systems with entitlement theory and suggests that scarcity of resources may intensify neocolonial tendencies. (CAB Abstracts)